Demonstration and Evaluation of Solid Phase Microextraction for the Assessment of Bioavailability and Contaminant Mobility (User's Manual)

Abstract : This method is an operating procedure for in-situ measurement of sediment pore water concentrations with solid phase microextraction using polydimethyl siloxane as the extractant. The method is used to assess the mobile and available contaminants in the pore water. Included in this description are procedures for preparation, deployment, retrieval, processing and interpretation of the collected pore water concentrations. The method is applicable to hydrophobic organic contaminants (HOCs) and the focus herein is on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Because the method detection limits as well as potential losses are related to compound hydrophobicity, the method must be used with caution when analyzing relatively volatile constituents which exhibit greater losses and relatively poor detection limits.